Enhancing the Needs of Counselor's Communication Competencies in Assisting Child Victims of Sexual Violence

Abstract

Children who are at risk of sexual assault often have limited knowledge and experience, which makes it challenging for them to understand the violence they have endured and how to react to it. This significantly hinders their ability to open up and talk about the traumatic experience. Such situations will make difficult the trauma-healing efforts carried out by counselors. The study aims to identify the competencies counselors must acquire for the counseling process to function smoothly and successfully. Data were collected through detailed interviews and observations involving 14 informants. Researchers also conducted literature reviews and administrative tasks to support their findings. Case studies were conducted to explore the role and significance of communication skills for counselors in the trauma recovery process for child victims of sexual assault. The findings revealed that counselors must not only have psychological knowledge or counseling competencies but also possess a variety of characteristics such as personality competence, professional competence, social competence, and, most importantly, communication competence.